I have begun the visits to the Cultural Triangle !!!
Actually, I have begun the visits to the Historical/Archaeological Sites within the Cultural Triangle.
What is the Cultural Triangle you may ask? Basically, it's the area between Kandy, Anuradhapura, and Polonuwara. These were all historical capitals of the Sinhalese culture, which enjoys 2,000 + years of uninterrupted history. Only the British in the 1800s were able to gain complete control of the island.
What does this mean?!
Good question. Like Mexico, Sri Lanka has a HUGE history and cultural identity preceding modern times. Unlike Mexico, which was dominated by the Spanish in the 1500's, Sinhala Sri Lanka was only ruled over by the British for approximately 100 years. During that time, rule may have shifted, but unlike the Spanish rule over Mexico, the indigenous culture was not entirely destroyed. Sri Lankan Sinhalese, therefore, have a very big and real sense of "now we are getting things back on track". This contrasts with Mexican culture (I am generalizing, there are many cultures in Mexico) which has more of a "lost identity" (ie La Malinche).
Monday, February 23, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Monkeys Two
Today I had to chase down a monkey that had stolen a tennis ball. I felt bad because, he was trying to eat it. When I first tried to "shoo" it, it carried the ball with him, so I had to aggressively get at it because I knew once it was on the run it would drop the ball, which it had thus far cradled in the monkey's arm and paw. It felt like robbing a tennis ball from a monkey.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Monkeys
Some things I love about my job:
Monkeys. One of the things I have learned as a part of my unofficial education is monkeys are a pest.
Today I had to chase two monkeys out of Bishop's House.
In the amount of time it took for me to scare them, come and sit at the desk, they had already come back and toppled Bishop's tea cup, which he had set outside.
So, I had to scare them away again.
Monkeys. One of the things I have learned as a part of my unofficial education is monkeys are a pest.
Today I had to chase two monkeys out of Bishop's House.
In the amount of time it took for me to scare them, come and sit at the desk, they had already come back and toppled Bishop's tea cup, which he had set outside.
So, I had to scare them away again.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Sigiriya and the Cultural Triangle
Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe of the Diocese of Kurunagala, Sri Lanka, has arranged for and given me the opportunity to visit the top archaelogical sites in Sri Lanka, including Sigiriya. The other sites include Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, Nalanda, Medirigiriya, Ritigala, Dambulla. Sigiriya is (somewhat) equivelant to Mochu Pichu, but is more of one single palace hewn into a monolith. The Diocese of Kurunagala contains the "Cultural Triangle" and so visiting these sites is an important gift from the Bishop. I am very appreciative.
I have scanned the tickets, which I hope will give you an idea. I will try to post the pictures as well, and will let you know in the coming month !
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